Bakery and food giant RHM has said it expects profit to be skewed towards the second half of the year.

In an AGM statement this week, the company said the impact of higher wheat prices, increased marketing spend and the timing of price increases would weigh profit to the second half even more than usual. RHM chairman Jan du Plessis said that RHM’s bread bakeries and customer partnerships businesses had continued to progress satisfactorily.

He added that the cakes business had continued to make good progress, with the Mr Kipling brand delivering both encouraging like-for-like sales growth and market share gains, as actions taken to improve performance in the second half of last year continue to build momentum.

Sales in the first four months of RHM’s financial year, which are traditionally the quietest, were 2% ahead of last year, he said.